Anti-bullying Week: why #IWillNotBeDeleted

In a world where our timelines are constantly popping off with selfies and beauty shots, it may be hard to believe that 115 million images are deleted every year. This was just one of the key findings of Rimmel’s global study on the topic of beauty cyberbullying. Yep, you read that correctly. Young women (from 16 to 25) all over the world are deleting themselves because of bullies. Rimmel has teamed up with The Cybersmile Foundation to launch the #IWillNotBeDeleted campaign – cue collective YAAAAS. It intends to start a global conversation on the issue and promote individual beauty. Well, we’re here to tell you it’s already working…

After asking friends, and friends of friends, as well as a handful of people in central London, it became abundantly clear that we should be shouting about the message behind #IWillNotBeDeleted. Whether they’re our stories or yours, we wanted to talk – to share experiences, show that everyone’s beauty should be championed and make sure that no one is deleted.

One young girl we spoke to told us that her smile had caused her cyberbullying. ‘Imagine being trolled about your appearance on social media when you’re 10 years old – being sent memes, pictures and videos. It was unbearable,’ she revealed. Another explained how someone used Instagram and Snapchat to bully her about her ethnicity. ‘I was told, “You’re too dark,”,’ she says. ‘And I was called ugly because my skin didn’t conform to their beauty standards. All of this led me into a spiral of self-hate and insecurity.’ And that’s the biggest crime. Not the words or the names – but that cyberbullying makes the target feel less than good enough. That’s when we need the wise, yet simple, words of Rimmel Brand Ambassador and all-round boss Cara Delevingne to ring in our ears. ‘You are enough,’ she says. If you’re experiencing cyberbullying, dismiss the hate and make that your mantra.

The point of #IWillNotBeDeleted is to give people a platform to discuss their experiences of beauty cyberbullying. It’s working to make social media channels such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter places to share and appreciate the diversity of beauty rather than minefields of hate comments and trolls. With a helping hand from a group of individuals and influencers (who are aaaaall kinds of beautiful!) such as Chessie King, Ascia Al Faraj and Eden Brown, Rimmel and Cybersmile have sparked the conversation, and it’s up to all of us to keep talking about it. So, post fearlessly, live your truth and don’t allow beauty bullying to erase who you are.

Find out more about the campaign at www.rimmellondon.com/beautycyberbullying.